Marcos urged to certify bill declaring Manila Bay as 'reclamation-free zone' urgent
MANILA, Philippines — Fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Friday called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to certify the bill declaring Manila Bay as a reclamation-free zone as urgent.
"What the fisherfolk need right now is certainty that reclamation will finally stop, not just lip service," Pamalakaya National chairperson Fernando Hicap said in a statement.
The explanatory note of House Bill No. 2026, which prohibits all types of reclamation activities in Manila Bay, filed by the Makabayan bloc stated that the government undermines the 2008 Supreme Court decision of cleaning up, rehabilitating and preserving Manila Bay with the reclamation projects, hindering its restoration to become safe for bathing, swimming, skin diving and other recreational activities.
"With reclamation projects, which are subsequently managed by big businesses in the sector, the people would be deprived of their supreme right to Manila Bay, that is, public access," it said.
Hicap said that passing the bill or issuing an executive order will be the only way to prohibit ongoing reclamation projects in Manila Bay from harming communities and risking the livelihood of Filipino fisherfolk.
Verbal declarations from Marcos and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will not suffice, Hicap added.
Pamalakaya asserted that big companies involved in reclamation projects should also be held accountable by requiring them to provide adequate economic compensation for affected coastal families and to conduct long-term rehabilitation efforts on damaged fishing grounds.
Other organizations such as those under the People's Network for the Integrity of Coastal Habitats and Ecosystems also urged the government to stop reclamation projects in other areas such as the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan.
"While we welcome the suspension, our call is to permanently stop the reclamation projects. The impact of these projects was already felt after the flooding in Bulacan. The damage is irreversible," Oceana Philippines acting vice president Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio said in a press briefing yesterday.
The DENR said on Thursday that all 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay have been suspended upon Marcos' announcement on Monday, and are currently pending for a government review of their environmental and social impacts.
This came a few days after the United States Embassy voiced apprehension on a reclamation project with ties to China Communications Construction Company, which is blacklisted from the US Department of Commerce for engaging in "fraudulent" business practices as per the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
House Bill No. 2026 has been pending with the Committee on Natural Resources since Aug. 2, 2022. Should this be passed, section 6 of the act will lead to the revocation of all issued environmental clearance certificates and permits of reclamation projects in Manila Bay, including the disapproval of pending applications. — Intern, Dominique Nicole Flores
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